When Phil Coulson Died
by PenNameless1994
Summary: "Phil Coulson," says the man in sleepwear. "You brave, brave man. Come walk with me." Companion piece to "When the Other Guy Spit It Out."


Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, a year later, I've finally posted a companion piece! Mostly, this came out of requests for a more complete idea of what was going on in the companion piece "When the Other Guy Spit It Out."

See you at the end!

"When Phil Coulson Died"

* * *

He feels the blood on his chest. It's sticky and warm. He labors to breathe. He concentrates on the director kneeling in front of him.

"I'm clockin' out here."

"Not an option," says Fury furiously. (That's funny. Why wasn't that ever funny before?)

" It's okay, boss," he says. A few more breathes. He can feel his damaged heart slowing. "This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to..."

And he can breathe again. At first, all he sees is blinding white, but it slowly resolves into shadow and light and color. It's still pretty white, and… there's a man in sleepwear standing in front of him.

"Phil Coulson," says the man in sleepwear. "You brave, brave man. Come walk with me." The man gestures for Phil to exit the… is this a tube? The man keeps step with him as Phil takes the first few steps.

"I remember… " says Phil, "Am I dead?" The man beside him opens his mouth, but blaring sirens cut off his answer. The man's green robe flaps about his heels as he rushes ahead of the (former?) agent. Phil follows curiously.

The man is standing on a raised dais, his attention held by whatever the viewscreen in front of him is showing. A cloaked and hooded attendant stands at a console to the man's side.

"Hold," the man says to the attendant. "Hold," he says again, and the attendant waits with its hand raised above a large red button.

Phil finally gets close enough to see what's on the screen. It's the Iron Man suit, but it's on the ground and unmoving, dented and dirty. He watches the Captain rip the faceplate off. Stark is just as still as his suit. It doesn't look like he's breathing.

"Now," calls the man, and the attendant slams his hand down on the button. Off screen, he can hear the Hulk roar, and he sees Stark's eyes fly open as he takes gasps in air.

Phil feels wrong-footed watching a man (Is it a man?) wield so much power. He wishes he had a weapon. "Who are you?" Phil asks over the man's shoulder. The viewscreen cuts black as the man turns around to face the agent.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that mate," says the man with a good-natured British accent. "I'm Harry Potter, that's Death," he says pointing to attendant, "and yes, you are dead."

Phil takes that in for a moment- he's dead, in a room with a man in sleepwear and Death. As a SHIELD agent, he's actually been in stranger places. "Do you do that often?" he asks, gesturing to the screen.

"With your lot?" says Harry rolling his eyes, "loads." Coulson's lips twist wryly, and Harry continues. "You think a man, even with a super-soldier serum can crash land in the arctic and stay alive for seventy-years?" Harry snorts. "Not bloody likely."

"Why?" asks Phil, and Harry understands the question perfectly.

"Because it wasn't any of their times," Harry says. He walks over to a panel and fiddles with a few knobs, then points to the screen as it flashes through various images- Captain America, frozen at the pilot's consol; Dr. Banner with a gun outside a lake; and Stark on the ground, just as he was before being revived by Death's red button.

"Why not just let them die?"

"You misunderstand me. Trust me when I say that death stands aside for no man. Death is impartial. It simply wasn't their time."

"Then why do you…?"

Harry grins. "Oh, they just need a little help every now and then."

"And me? It was my time?"

"Yes. Your death- well, I suppose we haven't quite gotten around to that part. Hm…" he muses, and speaks as he fiddles with the knobs again, pulling up a live video feed. "You really were quite right. It wasn't going to work." Phil watches Stark stand toe to toe with Loki in his tower. Harry stands to the side, smiling at Phil with knowledge in his eyes as Phil hears Stark say, "We call ourselves the avengers. If we can't defend the world, we'll damn well avenge it."

When the vid's over, Harry tactfully saves the agent from the discomfort of his own emotions. "Come on," Harry says, clapping the agent on the shoulder, "I want to show you the rest of our operation."

They walk side by side, hands clasped behind their backs, and Phil finally asks the question that's been bothering him since he stepped out of the tube.

"Is this the bridge of the Enterprise?"

Harry grins proudly. "Yep," he says, popping the _p_.

"You are the captain, and Death is your first officer?"

Harry laughs. "Right again, Agent Coulson."

"So do you control…?" Phil asks.

Harry immediately becomes flustered. "Oh, no, nothing like that," he says, gesturing vehemently with his hands, making his hair stand more on end and his glasses in danger of being knocked askew. "I mean, I'm death's master, but that's just because I have the Hallows. Like I said before, death bows before no-one, I mean, even I'm mortal." Harry takes a deep breath and stills hands, replacing them behind his back. "Death is a lonely business, Agent Coulson," Harry addresses the man beside him seriously," But even Death gets lonely. This," Harry makes a sweeping gesture to encompass the Enterprise, "  
is just fun for both of us."

Harry turns and punches in a code on one of the wall-panels. The adjacent door slides open to reveal a hangar bay. Phil follows Harry in, is faced though the observation window with the sight of Death drinking a cup of tea.

"What's that Death's got?" Coulson asks, not as surprised as he could have been.

Harry glances at the observation window. "Oh, some sort of Vulcan tea," he says nonchalantly. "It loves the stuff, but don't ask me how to say the name." Harry looks back to Phil and leads him up to the door of a craft. "This, Agent Coulson, is where we part. You may choose to board or you may choose to linger," he says with finality, "But you must choose."

Phil turns his attention away from Death and onto the craft in front of him. "It that the Quinjet?" he asks.

Harry looks pleasantly amused. "Is it really?" he says.

"What do you see?" asks Phil.

"Oh, I dunno. This is, as they say, your party."

They stand in silence a moment, as Agent Coulson contemplates the Quinjet.

"Where will it take me?" he asks.

"On," says Harry simply, shrugging his shoulders. "A wise man once told me, 'Death is the next great adventure.'"

They stand another moment. Coulson turns to Harry abruptly and offers him his hand. "Goodbye, Mr. Potter," he says. They shake hands together, once, twice, and then Coulson turns to the Quinjet as abruptly as he had turned to Harry.

Harry watches from behind the observation window as the hanger bay doors open and the Quinjet takes off with Coulson, his eyes locked on the horizon, at its helm. "Goodbye, Agent Coulson," he says.

Almost instantaneously, the siren begins to blare.

"Dear Merlin, _again_?" Harry mutters. He pulls his wand from his robes and rushes off to deal with his latest headache.

* * *

Author's Note: So, from what I understand, Coulson didn't actually die in original canon. So, you can either pretend he did, or he went "on," which is to say, "back." Whichever.

Anyway, thanks for reading! **I enjoy your reviews**, so please, please (with a cherry on top) leave one for me?

Hoping we meet again,

PenNameless1994


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